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Tuesday, July 14, 2015

Reckless (2015)

Director: Joram Lursen

Notable Cast: Tygo Gernandt, Marwan Kenzari, Sarah Chronis

Oh yes, the dreaded expectations of a film. High
expectations can easily kill a film before it’s even out and low expectations
can make even the most dire of Z-grade exploitation flicks fun and pleasantly
surprising. When it comes to remakes, expectations can be the utmost efficient assassins.
Particularly when it’s a remake of a highly praised film. No matter how good a
remake is, it can simply fall short to its predecessor and stumble out of the
gate. This is where Reckless comes
into play. Like many great films that simply couldn’t touch its originator (Let Me In to the superior Let the Right One In is a prime example
that comes to mind), Reckless is too
much like The Disappearance of Alice
Creed to truly stand on its own and it never finds its own voice…despite
some strong executions along the way.

Vic (Gernandt) and Rico (Kenzari) have it planned perfectly.
It’s the perfect ransom. The daughter (Chronis) of a wealthy businessman. His
only child. It’s quite frankly, the perfect crime that will leave them $4
million dollars richer. That is, if each member of this crime remains true to
the cause and doesn’t execute their own agenda in the meantime.

No stress for the napped.

The Disappearance of
Alice Creed is a phenomenal thriller. It’s too bad that it remained
something of a cult gem because it’s one of the most intense, thoughtful, and
dynamic low budget crime flicks of the last decade. It also means that, for
most of the film watching community that missed out, Reckless is going to be a fresh and shocking film instead of the
frame-for-frame remake that played for me. If you haven’t seen Alice Creed, I highly suggest taking a
gander as it’s technically the superior film, but that doesn’t stop Reckless from gunning for gold at least.
An admirable trait for a film that remains completely and utterly unnecessary
as it adds nothing new to what Alice Creed
did as a film.

So let’s throw out the comparisons between the two films for
now and focus on what Reckless does
right: execution. The plot itself starts off very straightforward and with only
three characters to tell its story, it remains a very tight and quick paced
flick. The dialogue is littered with subtle character building, the twists that
arise in the second and third acts are tense, and the resulting finale stamps the
narrative with some very artistic force. What seems to start off as a simple
hostage thriller quickly takes some classic tropes and ignites them with well implemented
finesse. The twists are not brain busters, but the characters are so real and
the situation is so well developed that it’s hard not to get sucked into the
story and just run with it as it takes off. Even though most of the characters
are assholes to some degree, there is a connection with the audience and it’s
an edge of your seat ride all the way through.

At times Reckless unfolds
like a theatrical piece with limited settings, limited action, and limited
budget. Don’t mistake this as calling the film simple or boring. It’s neither.
It just means that the actors and director (not to mention editing) have to
carry the film. All three of the principle parties on screen deliver strong
performances with enough conviction and emotion that when the plot calls for
distrust and paranoia they don’t have to overact to sell it. They blend in with
the tense thriller atmosphere so well that they probably made the director’s job
easy to sell the entire concept even when it gets a bit ridiculous towards the
end. Simply said, Reckless is just a well-executed
thriller.

Roll the dice, it's loaded.

Truly, the only real thing that I can knock about Reckless is that I saw the exact same
film, years ago and done just slightly better. It’s the kind of thriller that
requires a fresh sense of dedication to the characters and plot to ride along,
but when all of the plot points are exactly the same it zaps a ton of the fun
and intensity out of the film. A big part of me desperately wanted the film to
pull a massive 180 in the final act and deliver something new, but Reckless sticks to the same blueprint of
Alice Creed all the way through…and
it’s hard not to find that disappointing on some level.

For those who haven’t seen The Disappearance of Alice Creed, you are likely to find a
massively enjoyable and intense thriller in Reckless
that utilizes its simplicity to massive effect. For those who have, you might
as well skip out on this one and simply rewatch the slightly superior original film as Reckless seems desperately unnecessary.

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Here at Blood Brothers we, cult fan brothers Eric and Matt, are dedicated to bringing reviews to some of the worlds best (and worst, depending on your taste) cult like films from around this large globe. Whether it be Horror, Science Fiction, Kung Fu, or any other cult like genre - we are your first and last stop for all your review needs. Unapologetically kvlt.

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